Clash
by foreverandeveralone
Summary: Sarek, determined to make his son return to inherit his corporation, had to send out his strongest card, James Kirk to assist Spock, but his true mission was to find out Spock's weakness and make him return to Sarek. However, they had an extremely unforgettable first meeting, and soon enough found themselves stuck in the web they created for each other. How big will their clash be?
1. Chapter 1

ShiKahr sure was a beautiful city. The streets were crowded with all kind of species from different Federation planets. Among the ones walking along the streets of ShiKahr was one blonde, blue-eyed human male, easily one of the most good looking beings in the entire universe.

James Kirk was walking absent-mindedly on the pavement. He hadn't been this free for so long. Sometimes he forgot how much he loved being alone in his own word. Wind was blowing through his hair, making him sigh in contentment.

Half an hour ago, he had just been proposed by a girl name Carol. Well, not his first time anyway. Jim laughed to himself. Women, proposing to him, asking to marry him. He was different from them. Women were always asking for the results, but Jim only cared about the procedure. He wasn't interested in the needy, clingy type.

Women and loneliness, Jim never lacked.

He always blamed it on the fact that his occupation was not suitable for family and marriage. He supposed he could be called an 'executioner'. Well, he never harmed anyone. Not directly anyway. He just created a scene, a situation, and then used it to get rid of his opponents.

He was the highest-ranked assistant of the President of the T'Pau corporation.

His boss was one exceptional being: wise, experienced and dangerous. Most didn't want to be his opponent, because only his name could cause them serious headaches.

Jim might only be an assistant, but he was in fact his boss – the President's second-in-command. It took him a few years, but he was now a member of the Board of Management of the T'Pau corporation. The Vulcans always seemed to disagree with him, because Jim probably was the most illogical beings in the entire universe – he always acted on his instincts. But he had proved his efficiency. The more stressful the situation, the more he enjoyed it.

But there were boring days. Like today.

He just wanted to wander around, waiting for this boredom to pass. He barely registered a beautiful Orion girl who just touched him on purpose, and he just smiled slightly. He wasn't interested today. And then a few males, who annoyed Jim to no end, so Jim had to forcefully push them away.

Suddenly his PADD rang.

Cursing himself for forgetting to turn it off, Jim opened and didn't even bother to look at the caller's ID.

"James Kirk. Who's that?"

"The President told you to come to the conference room on the 20th floor at 8. He said it was urgent." – a female voice could be heard, and she hung up as soon as she finished.

Jim stared at his PADD for a while before sighing. Having a boss like that sure was troublesome.

He had been working for Sarek for quite a while, and as his second in command, Jim knew almost everything about the T'Pau corporation. Sarek paid him everything he needed, but nothing he really wanted. Jim didn't exactly like the Vulcan, but he respected him, and he never did anything for people he didn't respect.

Jim knew Vulcans didn't like lateness, so by the appointed time he had already been in the conference room. Only a few seconds later, the President showed up, followed by two others of his trusted employees: Hikaru Sulu and Pavel Chekov. Upon seeing Jim, Sarek broke the silence.

"Kirk, I have a problem that I believe cannot be solved without your interference. I need you to go on a trip for me."

"Where?" – Jim asked indifferently.

"Earth. Keep an eye on someone for me. He is currently very successful, and that always comes with enemies. I am only concerned that he is inexperienced, so he might make mistakes, so I need you to assist him. I trust your ability to judge others, so I want you to see if he is worthy to inherit the T'Pau."

Jim's eyes widened a little bit. The T'Pau was getting more and more successful, Jim didn't expect Sarek to actually think of retiring so soon. Jim knew that this was confidential. There were countless competitors fighting for a spot in the T'Pau, and Sarek was thinking of giving it to a young guy who he didn't even know that clearly himself.

If this was the truth, the members in the Board of Management were going to have one hell of a fight. But if it was not…

…Jim was feeling a bit worried. He rarely worried, but he could smell danger right now.

Was it a trap? Was Sarek finding a way to get rid of Jim? He never let anyone know too many secrets or have too many evidences, because the T'Pau was more like a mafia organization than a regular corporation as it appeared to be. Around half of its income came from illegal businesses and trades, but of course Sarek was a member of Vulcan High Council, and Vulcan was probably royalty in the Federation. Nobody messed with the Vulcans.

And so Jim was afraid his time was up.

But Jim was a well-trained actor, and living among Vulcans for so long had taught him how to hide his emotions. He managed to keep an impassive face.

"So that person is…?" – Jim asked with an indifferent tone.

"My son, Spock."

Jim decided that his life was not going to be easy.

Sarek was one cruel son of a bitch, Jim had learned that a long time ago. He never let emotions and feelings interfere with his work. He only gave a position to someone who was truly capable, not to someone who was close to him, even if that was his relative. Jim had witnessed, with his own eyes, how Sarek kicked his son out of the corporation (another son, not this Spock who Jim never met). Jim knew that Sarek still helped his son – Sybok was his name, Jim thought – build his own small business that was enough to earn a living, but he refused to let him back into the corporation, saying that he was incapable.

And now he was talking about another son of his, and how the hell did Jim not know of this Spock's existence? And Sarek was thinking of giving Spock the entire corporation, meaning this Spock had to be extremely exceptional. And the mission of judging this Spock seemed to be an important one, and of course Jim was the one for it. Sometimes Jim hated his luck.

Sarek was beginning to talk about this second son with a thoughtful voice.

"I have been observing Spock for a long time, he is truly exceptional. Cruel, determined. Unstoppable. I have tried to help him before, but he kept refusing, saying that he wanted to build his own empire. And he did. I have contacted him, saying that I wanted him to inherit the T'Pau, but he stubbornly refused to come back to Vulcan. He is the only one to ever dare to refuse me, and so I want him to join the T'Pau more than ever."

Sarek turned to Jim and looked him directly in his eyes.

"You go to Earth and keep an eye on him for me, do not let him escape from us completely."

Jim was surprised for the second time in only one day. Sarek had never praised anyone so highly before.

"Did he agree to this? If he did, I'll go."

Jim doubted it even after the question left his mouth. If Spock truly was what Sarek described, how could he accept letting a spy work right next to him? Nobody would, actually.

"Of course he did, but he was not eager in the slightest. He might be stubborn, but his mother had taught him well enough to respect his elders. He…" – Sarek trailed off a little before continuing – "The crew I sent last time, 3/5 of them disappeared, the rest became his employees." – Sarek was trying to suppress a sigh – "So I had no choice but to resort to my last option, which is you."

"You are overestimating me." – Jim replied calmly, but he could feel his insides doing a somersault or something like that. He was assured that Sarek still trusted him, but he received a difficult mission at the same time. He was practically playing with fire.

"I am certain he is interested. I send my employees to help him, a mind like his most certainly figured out my motives already. I want to give the T'Pau to him, I cannot see a logical reason for him not to want it. From what I can see, Spock just does not want to come here and fight for it with the other members in the Board of Management. He has his own empire now, the Enterprise corporation currently holds the top position on Earth." – Sarek's voice showed just a tiny hint of regret and affection.

Apparently Sarek had feelings too, he just placed all his feelings on the most capable, the one that managed to earn his respect. But he was not a fool, that Jim knew. Sarek had foreseen everything: Jim would not refuse him, and Spock would not refuse Jim.

And so Jim accepted.

They arrived at San Francisco space dock a week later. Jim, Sulu and Chekov.

Waiting for them at the space dock were two black Cadillac's, with 2 Vulcan bodyguards on either side on each car. And there was a man dressed in formal clothing, who excitedly shook Jim's hands upon meeting.

Jim shook back.

"James Kirk." – he introduced himself.

"Montgomery Scott, but call me Scotty." – the man's eyes were twinkling as he replied with a heavy Scottish accent – "I'm Mr. Spock's assistant, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Sulu and Chekov were standing on Jim's sides, nodded back in greetings.

"Your luggage will be brought back to the mansion in the city center. Mr. Spock is currently on a business trip, he told us to welcome you guys properly."

Jim nodded and flashed a bright smile. He had to admit, this Spock sure was good. Who knew he was actually on a business trip or just didn't want to meet them. Jim grinned to himself, anticipating what was to come next.

Jim had expected this, but he certainly didn't like it.

For the next few days, they were kept inside the mansion. Spock's people kept a very close attention on them, nothing got through their eyes. Sulu quickly reached his limits after 2 days and was quickly cursing with every step he took. Meanwhile, Chekov appeared to be calm, playing Monopoly with some of the servants in the mansion. As for Jim, he did nothing, just waited for things to change. There was nothing else he could do, because as soon as Jim expressed that he wanted to visit the Enterprise headquarter, Enterprise employees would appear and find reasons to postpone the visit.

Besides Scotty, Spock had another assistant, Giotto. The guy seemed pretty straightforward and kind. He didn't support the idea of holding Jim, Sulu and Chekov inside the mansion, but he couldn't let them out either, so he just told Jim directly.

"Wait for Mr. Spock to return, your business will be taken care of. You guys just relax and enjoy your life these days, no need to worry."

Jim took it as a warning to stay put and not to do anything stupid.

It had been 2 weeks since Jim returned to Earth when Scotty showed up one night and dragged Jim to 'Dark Moon', a nightclub that belonged to the Enterprise corporation, to 'have fun', as he put it. He was pretty sure Jim would like it, but Jim wasn't really excited. He couldn't wait to infiltrate the Enterprise, find out about Spock's true intention, and get the fuck out of here, back to Vulcan.

It was irony, but Earth didn't suit him.

Beautiful girls kept on walking onto the stage. Jim was sitting and chatting with Scotty in the VIP section. Jim soon found out that they were both interested in mechanics, and he conversation was getting interesting when a gorgeous woman walked into the room. She was drop dead gorgeous, Jim couldn't help but admit that his eyes soon were glued to her. She was the most beautiful woman Jim had seen in a while.

"Ms. Uhura." – Scotty bowed slightly – "This man here is James Kirk from the T'Pau, sent here to assist Mr. Spock."

"Oh." – Uhura smiled gracefully – "I've heard about you, pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm Nyota Uhura. Spock will be back soon. He had carefully instructed us to welcome you properly."

Judging by the way she called Spock's name without any title, Jim knew she wasn't just any random woman.

"Call me Jim." – Jim flashed a bright smile.

"All right, Jim. President Sarek used to mention you a lot in front of us. Now we've finally met, may I invite you a drink?"

"Sure." – Jim smiled again and accepted the glass of wine, downing it in one go.

Uhura smiled as she also drank her glass of wine. After she was finished, she set it down on the nearby table before standing up.

"You guys have fun. I need to take care of something." – she flashed another smile before walking away, while Jim couldn't help but glued his eyes to her backside.

"Ms. Uhura is not like any ordinary woman. She's extremely smart and determined. I'm not sure if there is any man here who is actually better than her."

Apparently Scotty could see Jim's fascination towards Uhura, and he spoke up nonchalantly but Jim could see the message in his words. Jim let out a laugh and turned back around. Scotty was right though, if Jim lost his focus whenever he saw a pretty girl, how the hell was he going to take care of Spock?

Scotty grinned again when he saw Jim was back.

"I forgot. The hall on the 8th floor is having a masquerade today. Do you want to go?"

Jim was quite bored of sitting there and letting girls touch him everywhere, so he stood up and grinned.

"Why not?"

"Okay!" – Scotty stood up and went outside to talk to the security guard before turning towards Jim.

"Let's go, we've missed half of it!"

And Jim followed him.

As they entered the hall, each of them was given a mask, hiding half of their face. Jim thought if he wore that mask, committed a murder and ran away, probably no one would be able to recognize him.

On the left side of each mask was printed a number, and there was a very interesting line on the access card – "The party's lucky number game is going to blow your mind!"

Even hiding behind a mask, Jim still attracted countless girls as they kept approaching him and asking for a dance. Apparently, with a mask to hide who they were, and also the dim light to hide their significant trait, everybody was pretty bold. The only problem was that Jim wasn't very good at waltz, so he just refused them politely. Finally, he agreed to dance with a girl with reddish hair. Both of them just took slow and careful steps, and began to enjoy themselves a little.

Suddenly all the lights went out, and the music also stopped. Darkness engulfed the hall completely. But there was no sign of panic, so Jim guessed this was part of the party.

Seconds later, Jim could hear the drums, and the beats were getting quicker and quicker. Whistles, laughter and talking began to fill the room.

Then, just as sudden, the drums stopped. A spotlight appeared in the middle of the main stage, where a female MC was already standing. She seemed pretty enthusiastic as she began talking.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to our monthly masquerade! Attention, please, because the most special, most awesome part tonight is about to begin! Everyone, give it up for "Secret Kiss" !"

All the lights came on fully, cheers and whistles and claps began to fill the room again.

"Everybody knows the rules already, right? No matter the results, everyone has to participate. No retreating, no refusing!"

The crowd began to cheer even harder as 2 strings of numbers appeared on the large screen on the stage. The numbers were changing rapidly before stopping at 25 and 46. A few seconds later, a man and a woman walked on stage before approaching each other slowly in the crowd's cheers. Then, as if they were long time lovers, they kissed passionately. The kiss lasted for more than 10 seconds as they didn't separate until the drum was on again.

Jim rolled his eyes. So that was how the game was played. The computer randomly picked 2 numbers, and the people with those 2 numbers would step up on stage and kiss until the drum signaled their separation. Jim stood there for a while, just observing. So far everybody that had their numbers appeared on the screen all complied to the rules.

The next numbers were 37 and 52.

A tall man wearing a low hat that covered his forehead and half of his ears walked up to the stage. The crowd was still cheering enthusiastically, guessing who the other was.

Bored, Jim began to walked towards the seats in the far corner when the girl who was dancing with him gripped his arm and pulled him back. She whispered.

"Where're you going? You're number 37."

Jim blinked. Once. Twice. He brought his hand up to touch the number printed on the mask, a little surprise.

"You're kidding, right? I'm a guy."

"Do you not know the rules? No matter male or female, you have to kiss if your number appears on the screen. Don't make the crowd mad, or they'll make you kiss without the mask. That would be totally embarrassing."

Jim wished the ground just opened up and swallowed him. Kissing? In front of a crowd? With another man?

Jim was determined to leave, but the girl already grabbed his shirt and shouted towards the stage.

"37 here! 37 here, he's coming up!"

Sometimes Jim just hated his life. He didn't want to ridicule himself. Getting into trouble was not how he attracted people's attention.

But he didn't have any other choice. He turned around and shot her a glare, which she answered with an innocent look. As all the eyes in the room turned to him, Jim had to walk towards the stage. Heavily.

He wished he was going up for a boxing match.

As Jim miserably walked up the stage, he noticed the other 'victim' was looking at him with sharp eyes. Even though the rest of his face showed no emotion, those strikingly brown eyes barely hid the excitement as he observed Jim carefully.

"Wow!" – the MC's voice could be heard again – "We're having 2 gentlemen up here, who volunteered themselves to satisfy you guys! That's the spirit! To honor their cooperation, how about we double the kissing time?"

"YEAH!"

Yep, Jim officially hated his life.

He knew it was no use stalling, so he slowly approached the other guy, while the crowd's cheering was reaching the level of deafening.

In a blink of an eye, Jim was completely out of breath. He could feel hot breath on his face, a pair of soft but burning hot lips on his own, a tongue trying to enter his mouth. Jim was completely caught off guard, unable to move for quite a while. When his brain managed to catch up, he began to move, only to realize his kisser was fucking strong. His grip on Jim's arms were like iron, and Jim couldn't escape.

Suddenly the guy released his grip on Jim's arms as his right hand went around to grip as the back of Jim's neck, while his left arm began to circle around Jim's waist. Their bodies were unbelievably close. Jim could never imagine he would one day be overpowered by a complete stranger.

Fine, two could play this game.

Jim raised his hands and gripped at the stranger's head, pushing it down, deepening the kiss. The two of them, after a while, probably created a most satisfying position to their…fans. Jim slightly opened his mouth, waiting for that tongue to enter before biting down, but apparently his opponent was no amateur. That sneaky tongue skillfully escaped Jim's attacks before finally pushing inside Jim's mouth, reaching everywhere it could. Jim began to realize this guy not only had no shame but also a master in kissing.

The embrace was becoming tighter and tighter on Jim's back, Jim's fingers were also gripping tighter on the stranger's neck. His chest was burning, and time seemed to have stopped completely. The breathing in his ears was getting heavier and heavier. This method of kissing sure was unhealthy, it was draining both their energy.

Why the fuck hadn't they hit the drum yet? Was it not 20 seconds yet? Fuck, it should have been more!

Finally Jim could hear the drum. And he was startled because he was immediately pushed away hard. But Jim just smirk while he regained his breath. However, as Jim met the pair of brown eyes again, he could see a strange kind of lust and arousal.

"OH MY GOD! 45 seconds! People, this is our new record! Give them a big hand everyone! What do you say if they take off their masks right here, right now?"

Jim snorted as he began to walk downstage, ignoring the crowd's cheering. He just spent 45 seconds of his life kissing another man until he almost fainted, if Sulu and Chekov knew about this he would be laughed at for the rest of his life.

And not to mention Scotty was also in this room and probably witnessed everything.

Jim walked away, ignoring the MC's calling and the stare of the other man, which Jim could feel burning his back. He was embarrassed, damn it! He just had to ridicule himself to entertain a crowd!

As he was walking fast to the main entrance, his arm was gripped and pulled back by the hand of one person that he didn't want to meet the most.

"Kirk, you're fucking awesome!"

Biting his lips, Jim turned around and gritted through his teeth.

"If you run around telling people about this…"

"That's okay." – Scotty was trying to hold his laughter, which made Jim even angrier – "Okay, okay, I'll not tell anyone. But…honestly…that was the most entertaining performance I've seen in a long time!"

"You dragged me to this fucking party! You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"Of course I don't!" – Scotty was trying not to laugh – "We just want you to relax and enjoy yourself a little bit, that's all!"

"I'm not in the mood of kidding right now. Who the fuck is he?"

"Who?"

"I told you I'm not in the mood." – Jim growled lowly.

"Oh… OH! That man who just kissed you passionately?" – seeing Jim was about to erupt (literally), Scotty held his hands up – "I'll tell, I'll tell!"

Suddenly Jim had a bad feeling and he didn't want to hear the identity of that man anymore. But it was too late.

"He's the one you've been waiting to meet! What do you think about the grand greeting?"

"Spock?"

Well, that explained the hat. He was trying to hide his pointed ears and not give himself away.

"Yes, he just returned this afternoon. Even Ms. Uhura didn't know that he's back already." – Scotty answered with a grin.

"But you know!"

"Come on, it was just for fun!"

Jim hated Scotty's happy tone, so much. Of course Scotty was happy, he didn't have to fucking kiss a man in front of a crowd.

"Is your boss mentally ill or what? If he wanted to do me, it was unnecessary…"

"Mr. Kirk, don't insult Mr. Spock in front of me. He's only a little spontaneous and doesn't like to do things the normal way, but I can assure you he's only interested in women. You don't have to worry about harassment."

"Go fuck yourself, Scott."

They didn't know each other for long, but Scotty seemed a little bit over-friendly, which was not a good sign. This kind of behavior could cause people to think people of the Enterprise were not entirely enemies, and that was dangerous. Because Jim had never been the kind of people to trust people easily.

At least, Jim would remember being played by Spock this time.

Thinking back about those deep brown eyes, Jim suddenly wanted to see what kind of traps were waiting for him under that mask and that hat.


	2. Chapter 2

When Jim got back to the mansion, Sulu and Chekov were already waiting for him in the living room.

"You guys knew already?"

"We heard that you've met him." – Chekov replied with a nod.

"An hour ago." – Jim didn't want to go into detail of the 'meeting'.

"He just dropped by to greet us." – Sulu said – "He didn't seem to be a simple guy."

"Of course, otherwise Sarek wouldn't have to send us here." – Jim thought for a while before continuing – "Tomorrow, we have to go talk to him tomorrow. I don't believe we can't get into the Enterprise headquarter."

Sulu groaned.

"I'm fucking bored these days! That Spock guy's such a showoff!"

Chekov grinned.

"Watch your mouth. We're here to help him, not to cause chaos. Aren't we staying in his mansion, at his table, on his chair?"

"Exactly." – Jim grinned, understand Chekov's message.

Jim couldn't sleep at all that night as his mind keep replaying that fucking kissing scene. He was still totally uncomfortable when he thought about it. Mortified. Embarrassed. But then he shoved all those feelings aside, because Spock probably wasn't any more comfortable than Jim was. This Vulcan sure wasn't simple. But then if he was simple, he wouldn't be able to lead the most powerful corporation on Earth, would he?

Next morning, when Jim entered the Enterprise President's office and look at Spock, in person, for the first time, he was really struck. The face behind the mask was pretty young, probably around Jim's age or only a few years older than him at most. Polite, stern, well-built body with tone muscles. Tall (probably a few inches taller than Jim), broad shoulders. Spock didn't wear the Vulcan robes or the Vulcan traditional haircut (both of which Jim had always found ridiculous) but in a black tailored suit and a fashionable hairstyle. And especially those brown eyes, deep and dark that made Jim unable to look away.

Spock straightened his posture before slowly walking towards Jim, brown eyes staring straight into Jim's own blues as if he wanted to burn the blonde human alive.

"We did spend 45 seconds being intimate with each other, which was a lot, was it not? Now, if you have any request, just tell me. If it is within my ability, I will not refuse." – the corner of the Vulcan's mouth quirked upwards very slightly – "I wonder what my father is trying to do this time. As far as I know, you are his most powerful card, are you not?"

"Let me join the Board of Management." – Jim answered clearly.

The corner of Spock's mouth twitched upwards again.

"My father has sent many people here, but none of them asked something so difficult like you do. What the Board of Management discusses during each meeting is considered the Enterprise' top secret, do you not feel as if you are asking too much?"

Jim still maintained a stern look.

"With your consent, there's no difficulties letting an outsider join the Board of Management. And Scotty, I think he also wants you to have another personal assistant to share the responsibilities."

Catching Jim off guard, Spock gripped the back of his neck hard. Jim just stared back in annoyance. He didn't like being caught off guard, not to mention by the same person over and over.

Spock then moved a step closer to Jim. Suddenly, Jim had a feeling that the performance yesterday was about to repeat itself, the only difference was that there was no audience this time, and that made him a little angry.

"What do you want?" – Jim asked with a stern voice.

Spock's eyes grew darker.

"It is not a matter of what I want, but what you have prepared. Mr. Kirk, what do you have in trade? If you are worthy, then I will consider making a deal with you."

"What do you want? My life?" – Jim was feeling overpowered, but he didn't show it.

"A life is the most unworthy thing in the universe right now. But it depends on whose life you are talking about. However, that is not what I am thinking about. Yours…seems to be worth it."

"I don't understand."

Spock moved even closer, his chin was positioned right on Jim's shoulder. Jim could smell the scent of a very expensive type of soap. Spock seemed to be the clean type, Jim noted absent-mindedly.

Seeing Jim was still silent, Spock moved his mouth to Jim's ear. The blonde human could feel hot breath tickling his ear, before a deep, low voice whispering into his ear.

"Sleep with me for one night, and I will let you join the Enterprise' Board of Management for one month."

Jim was beginning to wonder if his ear had been damaged or injured, because he was pretty sure he didn't just hear that.

Sleeping with Spock? Probably the most ridiculous thing Jim had ever heard.

"That was low, but if it was only a joke, I'll forgive you." – Jim replied, carefully not to show any emotion in his voice.

"What a pity. I am not as noble as you think I am."

"Mr. Spock, you don't have to do this." – Jim replied coldly.

"I believe I do. Because you are the one trying to make a deal with me. You could play that game yesterday, why not today? Or… Is it more intriguing with our masks on, with the crowd cheering?"

If this was before, Jim wouldn't hesitate to punch Spock right in the face. However, in front of him now wasn't some punk on the street of San Francisco, but Spock, who was able to get rid of anyone without a reason.

Seeing that Jim was still able to keep his cool and didn't react at all, Spock broke the silence again.

"If you have a better idea, I might consider it. If you want to return to Vulcan, I will not stop you. If my father is that fond of you, maybe he will let you be his assistant again. But you should not forget: the T'Pau does not need useless people."

"I believe you can easily find someone to entertain yourself if you want. You're just trying to give me a warning, I can see that." – Jim replied in the same cold voice – "But if you had to use this despicable method to chase the others – the ones that were sent before – away, then I'm afraid I'll have to look at you differently from now on. But you've made a mistake, because I'm not like them. One bit."

"What is the difference between you and them, then? I also want to broaden my knowledge a little, because I cannot trust someone based only on their words. Or their faces. And about the others, I never had to do anything about them myself. You are underestimating the Enterprise." – Spock didn't seem to mind Jim's words and finally let go of the blonde human – "I give you 2 hours to think about my offer. If you can do it, then you can stay. Otherwise, as humans would say, get out of my sight."

"I can assure you, you don't like a man in your bed."

"How do you know without even trying? I really want to try it now."

"Then no need for 2 hours, I agree with you right now. If you think it is a good idea, I do not have any objections."

There was a flash in Spock's eyes that died down really quickly, but Jim managed to catch it nonetheless. Surprise, Jim could see that. He was smart enough to see that Spock was just testing him, because he knew that there had never been any man to have the 'honor' of sleeping with the leader of the Enterprise. If there were, Spock himself would be the one to get into trouble, and he would never do anything disadvantageous. Otherwise he wouldn't have been the perfect leader.

Just as Jim thought, Spock was silent for a while as he stepped towards the glass wall behind his desk, from where he could observe the whole San Francisco Bay.

"If you have made your decision" – Spock broke the silence after a while – "come to room 1503, the 15th floor of Dark Moon at midnight. I believe…you do not need a guide anymore, do you?"

"I'll be there."

With that, Jim turned around and left.

He was making a bet, again. Because he knew if he came back to Vulcan unsuccessful, Sarek would definitely get rid of him. Spock seemed to know his father very well. The T'Pau did not need useless people, Jim couldn't remember how many times Sarek had repeated that phrase.

But Jim still didn't believe Spock was actually interested in men. If he dared, Jim wouldn't mind. It was better than being get rid of anyway. He had been in worse situation, and had had to endure worse things to make it out alive and successful. Sleeping with another man was like a reward compared to those situations.

To be honest, if Jim took on Spock's offer and thought for 2 hours, he would have definitely killed himself already, so he answered right away. Fuck his life.

Fine. 1503 it was.

Leaving Enterprise headquarter, Jim got into his car and began driving. He didn't know where he was going, he just drove with his head on fire from his irritation and anger. And just as he expected, soon he could hear police sirens following him. Seconds later, he was receiving a call from Chekov.

"Jim, what did you discuss with Spock? He already arranged for me and Sulu… Scott was just here to inform us, he even said you're joining the Board of Management. How did you get him to cooperate?"

Chekov was a smart guy, he understood that nothing came so easily without some kind of compromise, not to mention Spock's previous attitude made people hard to believe he could cooperate so easily. Even Jim was surprised himself, because he had just left Enterprise and Spock had already carried out the agreement.

He didn't do anything, yet he was already receiving his payment. Jim could smell something fishy.

However, Jim thought that Spock might back down, because sleeping with another man might not be really enjoyable. But while nothing was certain, it is best not to provoke Spock, because the Vulcan still got the upper hand. Jim knew that he had better be careful.

So he made up a story for Chekov.

"He gave me one of the Enterprise' most difficult cases, which probably has already attracted attention from Starfleet. The Enterprise could be investigated anytime, and they are probably lacking someone as a shield, so he picked me. Well, I think it's fair anyway."

"So it seems, I knew he would never agree so easily. Jim, just let me handle this."

Chekov was someone trustworthy and pretty brave, that Jim had already know.

"Spock only let me join the Board of Management. Besides, there's nothing good in this kind of situation, no need to fight for it. I'm thinking Enterprise might just be an empty vessel after all, the deeper we get into it, the more President Sarek loses. Just do your job and tell Sulu to watch his mouth. If we fail we don't even have anywhere to return."

"Got it. You take care of yourself."

"Hmm…" – Jim clicked his tongue – "Don't wait for me tonight, I need to take care of something. See you tomorrow."

"Ok. I also need to prepare a few things with Sulu."

Jim hung up, feeling so tired all of a sudden. The first time ever, he couldn't guess what his opponent's next move was. He was beginning to have some respect for Spock.

Jim kept telling himself he wouldn't have to go to that stupid appointment, but it was 5 to midnight already and he still didn't receive a cancellation call or message from Spock. Standing in front of the door to room 1503, Jim was truly experiencing 'hesitation' for the first time.

As the clock struck midnight, Jim rang the doorbell. Spock opened the door only seconds later, his face impassive as ever, making Jim even more uncomfortable.

"You are right on time." – the Vulcan said evenly, not mentioning of any cancellation.

He was wearing a black Vulcan sleeping robe, showing part of his chest which was covered in dark hair. His fair skin with slight shade of green made him even more mysterious and dangerous under the dim yellow light.

Spock looked at Jim once more before turning around, sitting down on the large sofa in the middle of the living room, reaching for the small phaser on the table and picked it up, twirling it in his hand. Jim hoped it was not for him.

They stayed silent for more than 2 minutes, the only difference was that Spock was sitting while Jim was standing. Spock was not looking at Jim, and Jim was not looking at Spock either.

Finally, Spock broke the silence.

"Go take a shower. I will wait for you in the bedroom."

Jim thought that had it been a prostitute in his position, Spock would have said the same. But he wasn't angry, not yet anyway, just silently letting his gaze follow Spock as the Vulcan stood up and took the phaser into the bedroom with him.

Jim just sighed before stepping into the bathroom.

Spock sure knew how to enjoy himself. Around a thousand square feet just for bathing. The room was paved with expensive black tiles, completely spotless. Jim was having a hard time believing that someone like this would actually be interested in sleeping with a man.

Oh fuck it. What was the worst that could happen? Death?

Jim stepped into the large bathtub and took a shower. At least he washed his hair carefully. The steam was making him feel a little dizzy. Grabbing a white towel and wrapped it around his waist, Jim slowly stepped outside and into the bedroom.

Spock wasn't there.

Jim could feel a breeze blowing through his hair. The thin, white curtain at the window went up slightly and then just as gracefully went down again. Jim immediately understood that this room had a connected balcony.

Slowly approaching the door leading to the balcony, which was only slightly opened, Jim opened it wider and leaned against it, looking at Spock. As if on cue, Spock also turned slightly around to look at him before turning back to the sky again, his arms resting on the railing.

It was a beautiful night. The moonlight made Spock appear even more…mysterious.

"You took a long shower. It is hard to believe you are not a woman." – Spock broke the silence after a while.

Jim thought that he might actually like Spock if he talked less.

Slowly, Jim walked towards the railing and stood in silence next to the Vulcan.

They stood in silence for a while before Jim turned to Spock, his voice barely hid his irritation.

"On what condition will you agree to let me join the Board of Management?"

Spock raised an eyebrow.

"I have already prepared a big welcome party for you, did Mr. Chekov not inform you? What else do you want?"

"That simple?" – Jim gave the man in front of him a skeptical look.

"How complicated do you want? You seem good at making things more complex than it should be." – Spock already went inside – "This is a perfect opportunity. Come inside, we shall complicate our situation."

"Hey!" – Jim raised his voice – "You simply don't want to talk to me." – No matter how patient Jim try to be, Jim found out that he couldn't keep his patience for long when it came to these kind of people. He also stepped inside in irritation.

As soon as Jim set foot inside, Spock appeared in front of him. In a blink of an eye, Jim found himself pressed to the wall between the door and the window, Spock's elbow on his chest, immobilizing him. Jim bit his lips in irritation. How many times did he let Spock overpower him already?

"What does my father want with me? He even sent you, his most capable assistant, does that mean he wants to force me to an end? You have been with him for so long, do you not know how many tricks he has?" – Spock's voice was growing colder by each words, showing his cruel true self – "He does not lack loyal henchmen, you are not the first, and probably not the last. I never cared about the ones sent here before, but I have heard of you. A James Kirk who is better than most, who is honorable than most. I believed it. I still believed it when I met you for the first time. But this morning, when the same James Kirk entered my office and voluntary gave himself up for the sake of the T'Pau, I cannot believe it anymore! Your true motive is not simply checking out the true power of the Enterprise and report it back to my father! Tell me the truth, and we can call it quit. Otherwise, I can assure you are not going to like the outcome."

"Currently, you will not believe anything I say." – Jim replied calmly, looking straight into Spock's eyes.

"You can think about it. This time it is not only 3 hours, I give you 30 days. Out of respect for my father. If I see any suspicious action from you, I believe you know the consequences. How does it feel when you know you are going to be gotten rid of either way?"

Spock then let go of Jim, but waved a finger in front of the blonde's face.

"Selling your life for my father, not many of them have a happy ending. How lucky do you think you are? Ridiculous."

Jim took a deep breath.

"None of us matter. Not me, or the others who was sent here previously. To him, the only one worthy of his attention is you."

"My father is insane. Only fools like you go insane like him."

"Do you think it's hereditary?"

"What?" – Spock gave Jim a hard glare.

Jim was smirking at Spock.

"You cannot deny the fact that his blood runs in you."

Spock gave Jim another sharp look, but then, almost immediately, the corner of his mouth quirked upwards as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I know your advantage. You are not afraid of death, which puts you ahead of others." – Spock said after a while.

"You're wrong, if I'm not afraid of death, I wouldn't have come tonight." – Jim grinned mockingly – "My advantage is that I don't know what is good and what is bad. You have already chosen the easy way for me, but I couldn't keep it that way."

"You most certainly cannot distinguish between good and bad, but you know yourself more than I give you credit for." – Spock was beckoning Jim closer with one finger – "Come here, did you not agree to sleep with me tonight? Would the famous James Kirk go against his own words?"

Spock knew Jim would never give in, but he didn't realize how determined Jim actually was.

Jim came to stand right in front of Spock, and with one swift motion, he pulled off the towel that was covering his lower body. Spock's eyes widened a little in surprise at Jim's action, making Jim smirk.

The blonde human dipped his head a little lower, narrowing his eyes at Spock.

"Mr. Spock, how do you want me?"

Spock was stunned for around 3 seconds before letting out a snort, smirking.

"Kirk, you certainly surprise me sometimes."

"That's my way. I don't hold my life in my own hands, I'm used to letting others play with it." – Jim sighed dramatically.

"But you are sometimes too naïve." – Spock said, his voice dropping a few octaves lower – "You really think I would not touch you."

Right after he finished, the Vulcan placed a hand on Jim's thigh, and slowly went up until it reached Jim's ass. Jim could feel his skin burning wherever that hand touched as he stood there motionlessly. He was getting a bit worried. Was Spock really going to do it?

Suddenly Spock stood up and stared directly into Jim's eyes. The tension between them could be easily cut with a pair of scissors.

"Do you think you are in a movie?" – Spock raised his voice – "This is reality! No one to help you, no dangerous situation for you to show off! You and your allies stay put, I will not forgive you another time!"

"This kind of threatening, if brought to a movie, I believe you'll acquire a large number of fans." – Jim smirked – "I came back here clearly not hoping for an easy life. This is not Hollywood, of course I know that. I also know my situation more than you think I do."

"Good, Kirk, I really want to see if you are really as tough as your mouth."

With that, Spock slowly moved his head towards Jim's. They stared at each other for a while, before…

Suddenly, Jim could feel warm lips covering his own, a strong hand gripping the back of his neck, mouth biting and sucking on his bottom lip. Jim was reminded of the previous night, of that draining kiss. Jim didn't understand if Spock was torturing Jim or himself, because clearly none of them were comfortable.

Then, Jim could feel a hand running along his spine, down to his ass.

Completely mad, Jim bit down hard on the lips that refused to let go of his own, until he could taste the copper-based blood on his tongue. They kept on kissing until they were out of breath and forced to let go to regain their breaths.

"This is…the best…meeting gift I have ever received." – Spock said as he fell back onto the bed, raising his hand to clean the trail of blood on his lips, his gaze never leaving Jim – "I did not expect it to be so fascinating."

Jim was also trying to regain his breath, not paying much attention to Spock's words. Even the cool breeze from outside couldn't help him cool down.

Then suddenly he found himself being pulled down onto the bed. It was a king sized bed with completely black sheets, like it was made for Satan. Being caught off guard, Jim quickly found himself lying under the Vulcan. Fuck Vulcan strength, of course Spock regained his breath more quickly than Jim as the Vulcan was clearly recovered, pinning Jim down into the bed.

"My father's gift sure is interesting."

"Fuck you." – Jim spat.

"You are going to do it with me, so you had better relax, otherwise you will be injured." – Spock leaned down to whisper into Jim's ear – "Tell you the truth, I am not interested in males. But you know I never lose in a business. I already agreed to let you in the Enterprise, you should serve me at least once. It is only logical, do you agree?"

Jim was literally feeling his blood boiling in his veins. He began to struggle in Spock's grip. And even Spock's Vulcan strength couldn't hold him down completely anymore because Jim was using every ounce of strength he had. Not to mention they were lying at the edge of the bed, one in a sleeping robe while the other completely naked. They began to struggle against each other. Spock probably didn't expect Jim to react this fiercely, so he was caught off guard during his attempts to overpower Jim and received a few punches and kicks himself. To be able to make Jim completely lose his mind like this, Spock was the only one.

"Did you just hit my face?" – Spock suddenly said with a raised voice, stopping his attacks and glared at Jim, while Jim was laughing on the inside as he was finally able to sit up.

"If you want to continue fighting until morning, I won't object, because I don't have anything against being hit in the face." – Jim smirked.

Spock gave Jim another pointed look before reaching his hand out. Jim tried to dodge but found himself unable to as 5 long fingers curled around his arm and gripped hard, making Jim wince a little.

"What the fuck do you want?" – Jim glared.

"Did anybody not tell you that I am aroused after a fight?"

"What?" – Jim was fed up with Spock's disgusting way of talking. Wasn't he supposed to be a Vulcan?

"Are you going back on your words?"

"I fucking am!" – Jim was fed up. That was it. Game over, Jim was not that kind of person.

"Use your hand. Just once, and we are finished."

Jim decided that this was the most shameless Vulcan he had ever met.

"You're making me sick. That kind of…"

"Are you telling me you want me to caress myself in front of you?"

"Why the fuck do you have to do this? Just fucking call someone up here!" – Jim shouted.

"Why are you uncomfortable about this?" – Spock shouted back.

"Sorry to disappoint, I'm afraid you're the one who is going to get uncomfortable."

"Or are you interested in 3P?" – Spock raised an eyebrow.

"It's not like I'm new to it." – Jim retorted.

Silence for a few seconds before Spock turned to another direction.

"Forget about it, I am not interested in sharing. It is not clean."

Yup, definitely a clean freak, Jim thought.

They stayed silent for a while, facing different directions for a while before Spock broke it.

"Get out of here."

Not wasting anytime, Jim got down from the bed and went out to the living room, where he slowly put on his clothes. There were a few bruises on his shoulder and chest. Then Spock got out as well. They looked at each other. The Vulcan's cheek was swelling slightly, clearly he was not in a better state than Jim.

Having finished putting on his clothes, Jim let out a quite laugh, pretty sure that Spock's sensitive Vulcan hearing could catch it, before opening the door and left.

Such a fucking mess.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Jim was stopped by Giotto right in front of Enterprise Headquarter main entrance.

"You hit the President?" – Giotto asked disbelievingly with a hint of panic in his voice.

If Jim knew this would happen, he wouldn't have hit Spock in the face. Oh well, the best way for people not to know was not to do it, and he did it anyway.

Seeing that Jim didn't answer, Giotto quickly explained.

"It's nothing. Just that I was also at Dark Moon yesterday, and I saw you exiting the main hall, so I thought you were there to meet Mr. Spock. Today when I saw him earlier, his face was swelling, and he didn't say anything about who did it to him. There isn't anyone here who dared to lay a finger on him, so I guess it was you."

Logical. Logical indeed.

"Yeah, I did it. Do you want to take revenge for him?" – Jim grinned teasingly.

Giotto's eyes widened even more, his face seemed even more panic.

"And Mr. Spock didn't mind!" – he exclaimed – "He even let you join the Board of Management! Unbelievable!"

Jim laughed, showing a hint of misery.

"He did mind. You probably don't know anything about your President's punches. They hurt like a bitch."

"You're also hurt?" – Giotto finally understood, his eyes scanning Jim's body.

Jim was feeling uncomfortable under that look.

"You can't see it, it's on the inside. So I hit him in the face."

Leaving Giotto standing there with his mouth hanging open, Jim calmly walked inside. To his new office, a spacious room, fully furnished with simple decoration. The first thing he did was calling Chekov and Sulu, mainly to inform them about his condition.

Up until now Jim had never underestimated Spock. His actions were always quick and precise, not to mention his hobby to play with his prey.

A while later, his beautiful secretary Marlena brought him a cup of coffee and a PADD, containing all kinds of reports and files on Enterprise' plans and projects for the year. Some of the files even contained copies of top secret information.

"The President specifically told me to transfer these files to you, so you can quickly catch up with the Enterprise' current situation and understand what fields we're doing business in. All the matters decided by the Board of Management or waiting to be decided are in here."

Marlena explained clearly before flashing Jim a charming smile, and Jim couldn't help but admit that she was indeed very hot. Was Spock using Honey Trap on him?

"All right, I'll look into it." – Jim answered with a firm nod.

She gracefully walked outside, leaving Jim alone to think.

After half a day of reading and researching, Jim was surprised to see that the files were not at all useless. At least half of them were real. He didn't expect Spock to be so…fearless. How was he going to deal with Jim? Before he could guess Spock's true motive, he couldn't afford to lower his shield.

Suddenly the internal phone line rang. Jim picked it up. On the other side was a deep, warm voice that he had become familiar with over the couple of days.

"Mr. Kirk is most certainly professional."

Dropping the PADD in his hand onto the table, Jim leaned back into the chair.

"How can I compare to Mr. Spock?" – he replied calmly – "Still able to be at the office on time after such a hard working night, what an example for the whole Enterprise."

Spock let out a breath.

"Obviously verbal fighting is not your specialty."

That sentence alone rendered Jim speechless. Even Jim himself knew that verbal sparring was not his style. What happened to the cold Jim Kirk who never spoke more than necessary? Was it because he was excited to finally meet an opponent on the same level with him, or was he just too stressed out? He didn't even know. Apparently, Jim couldn't control himself when it came to dealing a few certain matters with a few certain people.

"Why do you not say anything? You should only be your true self, the true James Kirk, when working with me. Only that way can we cooperate successfully, correct?"

Jim was feeling uncomfortable by Spock's words. He didn't want the Vulcan to infiltrate, to discover his deepest thoughts.

"From now on, I'll probably be supervised 24/7, what cooperation are you talking about?" – Jim looked up, smirking at the point on the wall where he was sure to have a hidden camera installed – "I don't dare to raise my hope up."

"Well, you are correct that I am watching your every move, Kirk. But whether the cooperation will take place or not, in one month, the decision is yours to make." – with that, Spock hung up.

Apparently, Jim had finally caught Spock's attention, probably made it to the top of the Vulcan's priority list. One thing Jim wasn't certain was that he didn't know if this kind of attention was just a game to distract him, or Spock was actually countering his father. One thing was certain, was that they had both become each other's new prey.

The 5th floor of Enterprise, the café 'Starlight' was the favorite destination of a lot of famous and important figures. Elegant, luxurious, classy and quiet in the middle of the crowded San Francisco, the place made visitors feel like they had somehow escaped their busy life. Every day, the café welcomed countless guests, coming to enjoy the most delicious food and drinks in the entire Federation.

Around 2 p.m., Jim got down to Starlight for lunch. He also had some high quality dessert and a cup of Java coffee. He wasn't in a rush, so he just ate slowly and enjoyed the view and the quietness.

"Jim? You seem relaxed sitting here." - Jim looked up to see the perfect Nyota Uhura standing in front of him, smiling gracefully – "Am I bothering you?"

"Sit down." – Jim smiled slightly and motioned to the chair in front of him. She might be beautiful, but she was one of Spock's people, so Jim needed to be careful.

He called her a portion of dessert.

"I've eaten already." – she smiled, the same graceful smile – "But I've always had trouble saying no to desserts."

"Me too." – Leaning to the side of his chair, Jim politely looked directly into her clear eyes. She was definitely a mysterious, strong woman, but her eyes were still gentle, which was pretty rare. Jim had to admit, Spock sure knew how to pick women. Probably the reason the two of them clashed so easily was because they were more alike than they thought.

"I heard Spock let you join the Board of Management. To be able to earn his trust in such a short time… I'm sure you're the first."

"So, you're here to congratulate me?"

"It is something worth my congratulations, isn't it?"

Congratulation on being alive because her lover was kind enough not to kill him yet? Jim didn't know if she was trying to give him a warning or not, but he was not stupid enough to believe Uhura didn't know anything about his current situation.

The dessert arrive, and Uhura picked up her spoon and began eating. Probably her favorite. The way she ate looked so natural, yet still elegant, making Jim thinking about a well-behaved child. Surely, no man could refrain from this woman.

After she had finished, Uhura looked up and smiled at Jim.

"I had an appointment with a customer here half an hour ago, but I didn't dare to order some dessert, because my customer didn't like it. I didn't expect to see you here and even invited to a treat, what a nice surprise."

"So have some more. You and Spock seem…pretty close?" – Jim didn't know how he could open his mouth and ask such a personal question, that was totally not like him. But he had asked already anyway. Right after that, he reached out a hand and used his finger to clean the cream on the corner of her mouth impassively, as if he had done it million times already.

Hesitation flashed in her eyes before she lowered her head.

"Yes, we're lover, officially. But I think I'm not his only woman." – then she looked up – "What about you? Have you found anyone?"

What an interesting change of topic. Uhura sure had noticed the way Jim addressed Spock differently from the others.

"Me, if I were him, you would be my only one." – Jim flashed his charming smile – "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"No, of course not. It's my pleasure to hear that from you." – even as she said that, Jim could see she had become sadder. He knew she was not mad at him, but she was thinking about her not so perfect Spock.

Jim didn't comment, because he had never been a good lover either. Back on Vulcan, Jim always had more than one lovers at the same time. He was most cruel to Carol, though. He was with her for 3 years and never promised her anything. And when Carol wanted them to get married, he immediately traveled to Earth without any further words. In general, men were all selfish creatures.

The two of them sat in silence for a while before Uhura broke it with a sigh. Her voice sounded calm, as if she was reminding herself she was a high ranked member.

"I can't deny, that to women, Spock is deadly attractive. His masculinity, his strong personality… He makes women want to approach him, even though in their minds, they know there will be no good outcome. I'm such a fool… He once told me: if he ever gets married, he will choose me." – stopping for a while, she looked at Jim before continuing – "I believe him. Even though it has been 4 years since he said that, I still believe him. It is not easy for him to promise me such a thing, I don't want to make it more difficult than it already is. He hates being tied down, once he thinks that he is being tied down, he'll break free, and there'll be nothing left."

"Why are you telling me all this?" – Jim asked calmly.

"You asked me first, and besides, I want to. I don't know, I feel relaxed around you. Unlike with him, sometimes it feels intimate, but sometimes it feels like we're miles apart. Besides Spock, I don't have any other weakness, so I don't mind talking about it."

"I also believe, if he gets married, he will choose you."

"You sure are an interesting person, Jim." – Uhura laughed – "You're always playing the calm outsider. What can make you panic? What kind of person can rock your world?"

"You can."

"You're funny." – she stood up and gave him a quick peck on his forehead – "I have to go now, talk later ok? The truth is, Spock is actually a pretty nice guy."

Jim's gaze followed her retreating back and shook his head slightly. Uhura's probably the only one to think that.

No matter how smart a woman was, when she truly loved a man, she would become foolish.

Jim called for his bill.

"168 credits, sir." – the waiter told him politely. Jim gave him 200.

"Keep the change."

"Thank you very much, sir."

As he picked up his jacket and was about to leave, his PADD chimed. A firm, experienced voice could be heard from the other side.

"Jim, why haven't you come to meet me yet after having been back on Earth for so long?"

Ah fuck, the war was about to start.

Jim glanced around him before lowering his voice as he exited the café.

"I'm being supervised more than 18 hours a day. Besides, apart from my PADD and the washroom, everywhere I go or everything I touch probably has a tracking device or a hidden camera. I want to wait until this stage has passed before contacting you."

"That fucker sure doesn't show any respect to his father!"

"He's probably mad at the way his father keeps interfering in his business. He's still got the upper hand here, we need to lay low first and not alert him."

"Did you find any useful information?"

"Kind of, but I still need to verify it. Besides, we need to strike his greatest weakness."

"How much do you think he has on the black market?"

"At least 30 or 40 percent of the Enterprise' income. Otherwise, there's no way he's that notorious in the business."

"Just as I thought. He does have some relationship with Starfleet command, his shields are pretty strong. You don't have to be on the lookout too much, I'll help you take care of him. Wait until we strike him, maybe he'll have to beg for your help."

"We still need to observe the situation. Don't act on a rush."

"Jim, the President trusts you. You'd better not let him down."

"I know, Chris."

"Use everything you can." – was his last words before he hung up.

Jim's mission when he returned to Earth this time was not a simple one. He needed to disable all of Spock's weapons. Of course, Spock never let his guard down. Like a sehlat on high alert, ready to attack when someone threatened its territory.

Jim asked as soon as he exited the elevator to his level.

"Marlena, when does the Board of Management usually meet?"

"At the end of the third week every month."

"Got it. Thanks."

"Do you want some coffee?" – she asked before Jim entered his office.

"Nah, I'm full of coffee today."

"All right." – she laughed – "Call me if you want some."

Jim entered his office but he had only sat down for a while before he picked up the phone and called to Spock's office.

"Kirk here. I need a favor."

"Since when did you become so formal with me?" – Spock asked with a mocking tone. Jim could hear the mocking, although to others his voice might be considered even.

"My office is not the hallway, are you sure it needs more camera?"

"What do you want?" – the Vulcan asked directly.

"If you're that stubborn then it's fine."

"So be it, move to the office next to mine. Give your current one to Scott." – apparently Spock wanted to pick a fight.

"There's no need. I just need to take one camera down, not leaving the whole room."

"That is my final decision. Move your belongings up here before 5 p.m. I think you do not have much to prepare anyway."

Okay, that was unexpected. And the way Spock talked almost made Jim believe it was a spontaneous decision he made absent-mindedly. Almost.

It took Jim a while to fully process the conversation, and he calmly stood up and called Marlena inside to help him with moving. Her eyes also widened comically after she heard the new order.

"Right now?" – she asked disbelievingly.

"Right now."

Scotty showed up at 4.30 p.m. Seeing Jim was still calmly sitting in his chair, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Jim? You're not leaving yet? Look at me, I've brought everything down here!"

"I'm sorry to have bothered you." – Jim didn't have any other choice but to stand up.

"Nonsense! It's no big deal, moving around the Enterprise is nothing strange. I've changed my room countless times and I never dared to complain, as long as I can keep my job. It doesn't really matter, actually. To be honest, I even like this room better." – Scotty said as he began to look around the room.

Scotty might seem friendly, but Jim knew he was the most secretive person. Then he turned to look directly into Jim's eyes.

"It doesn't matter which floor you're on, really. The main thing is Mr. Spock regards you highly. Recruiting the high assistant of the T'Pau – the famous James Kirk – is his number one goal."

Jim snorted. He didn't know how many he had heard these kinds of words. Who the fuck didn't know Spock couldn't stand him just a little bit?

"Do you know where Giotto and Ms. Uhura are from?" – Scotty asked all of a sudden.

Jim's eyes widened, his stomach began to dance around. There was a string in his head that got tenser and tenser by every second until… Jim gulped before opening his mouth.

"T'Pau?"

"Bingo! So we're not really enemies after all."

So the previous team sent from the T'Pau was that strong, that was totally unexpected. For such a long time, Jim didn't know Giotto and Uhura were once under Sarek's command. Apparently, Sarek didn't just want to fight, he wanted to tame Spock. Completely.

Jim was really surprised, and a little worried.

After the betrayal of that many trusted employees, why the hell did Sarek think Jim would be his ultimate weapon? He wasn't a woman like Uhura, he was even more uncontrollable. Probably he believed Jim to have strong will-power, he would not betray him so easily.

Spock had considered Jim to be his newest prey, he would never let go unless Jim submitted. But Sarek wouldn't go easy this time, either. He had determined to control his son. And about Jim, was he worth it, was he allowed to come back, that was another matter.

When he reached the top floor – Spock's floor, Jim wasn't as mad about this new arrangement as he was before. Everything had a good and bad side. Spock was also risking a lot. With the two offices right next to each other, Spock could control Jim, but Jim could also keep an eye on Spock. Both were going to lose their freedom, and to be honest, Spock might be at a disadvantage here.

Seeing that the two offices were only separated by a regular wall, and there was even a door in the middle, which meant it took less than a second to go from this office to the other one, Jim was secretly admiring Spock.

Jim raised an eyebrow as he watched Spock open the door and cross the 'frontline', those brown eyes giving Jim a sharp look, doing nothing to hide his stubbornness.

"Are you satisfied with the files Marlena gave you?"

"It's only my first day." – Jim ran his fingers through his hair – "And besides, you can't really expect me to finish everything with all this moving crap, right?"

Spock let out a cold breath and sat down on the sofa.

"I find that I do not care where you come home. You are here, that means you work for the Enterprise. I do not care what you do, as long as you are capable."

Spock sure was intimidating. But not to Jim.

"I truly work for the Enterprise."

"You had better." – Spock's PADD chimed, so he pulled it out. His face grew colder as the conversation went on, and a frown was beginning to make its way onto his face. Well, that couldn't be a good sign.

"I am coming." – was the only thing he said during his whole conversation before he hung up and put his PADD away. Apparently, Spock was having some kind of trouble. That irritated Jim a little bit. Who was faster than him?

Spock suddenly stopped right in front of the door connecting the two offices, glancing back at Jim. Jim stood up and follow him, neither of them said a word.

Sometimes Jim couldn't explain it. Spock was constantly giving Jim the chance to approach him, and he knew that nobody could stand right in front of their opponents and not show any weakness… So Jim believed Spock was doing it on purpose. Probably Spock succeeded with this method of trust before, but Jim knew this was not going to work with him.

Jim sat in the passenger's seat, watching Spock drive all the way without breaking a single rule.

They got to the hospital, Spock personally talked with the police, then discarded the crowd of reporters that somehow found out about everything. A fight with more than 15 people injured, and not until the next day did Jim find that not a single news program or paper mentioned it. The police also didn't send anyone else to investigate. Apparently that proved how strong the Enterprise truly was.

Back to the present. Hendorff was reporting the situation to him.

"Mr. Spock, it was that scum Nero! His gang sneaked up on us at bar Wind Breeze when we weren't prepared, and they brought knives, and so…"

"I have been informed about that." – Spock cut him off, his voice reassuring – "Just tell me, how many are injured?"

"17, sir. Those fuckers, they dared attack us right in the middle of the day! We got 3 cases of head injuries, those are the most serious ones. We're still waiting for the complete report from the hospital. At least I've done everything according to your instruction. Dr. McCoy has agreed to personally look after them, and all the fees have been taken care of."

Quick and efficient, Jim noted.

"We need to teach the Nero gang a lesson." – Spock muttered.

Jim turned around and turned towards Sulu, who was having his left arm casted, and lowered his voice.

"Why the fuck are you here?"

"Just bad luck." – Sulu grinned.

"Be serious." – Jim glared at him.

Sulu rolled his eyes before talking.

"The Enterprise, through connections with the government and Starfleet, has been chosen as the contractor for a very large residence / entertainment area at Fisherman's Wharf. And with Spock's style, after years of experience in the black market, he used that chance to acquire the entire surrounding area, provoking a lot of gangs already there for a long time. Some of Nero's casinos were in the area too, and that gang has been quite notorious for a while, so they couldn't stand the Enterprise. And so, they waited for the chance to attack the Enterprise' most famous bar. The Wind Breeze doesn't open in the afternoon, but a few of us were just sitting there drinking and chatting, and we didn't think anything would happen, so we let our guard down. And then, you can see."

"Why were you there?" – Jim asked again after Sulu was finished.

"Looking for an old friend. Told you, bad luck."

"So you know Giotto?" – Jim knew Giotto was in charge of the famous Wind Breeze.

"Well, yeah. He was one lucky son of a bitch, he wasn't there when the fight happened. Not until they had already left did he arrive, probably trying to make up for it right now."

"You never told me you know Giotto." – Jim said accusingly.

"You know it now, don't you?" – Sulu blinked his eyes innocently at Jim, probably the only one in this world who could do that without disgusting Jim (because Jim was too used to that). Seeing Jim was not impressed, Sulu sighed.

"Actually I used to work with him back on Vulcan, so you can say that I somehow know him. I just want to talk to him, at least find out why a loyal person like him betrayed the T'Pau. Aren't you…curious as well?"

Jim was only a little curious, not as much as Sulu, because as they say, 'curiosity kills the cat'. Sulu was the perfect example. If one wanted to lead a peaceful life, one should suppress their curiosity.

"I should nominate you to work for CNN. Working here is such a waste for your talent." – Jim raised an eyebrow.

Sulu laughed and elbowed Jim slightly.

Glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention, Jim went outside to comm Pike.

"What do you know about the Nero gang?"

Apparently Pike knew about them, so he answered Jim immediately.

"This gang comprises of a bunch of scoundrels and low-lives, you know, those street gangsters. Most of them are Romulans. A group of fools not afraid of death. Even I don't really like the idea of running into them."

"They're targeting the Enterprise. If we let them run free like this, it is not entirely advantageous to us."

"What? When?"

"Just now. There was a fight at Wind Breeze, over the Fisherman's Wharf area."

"You don't think we can use the Nero gang?"

"Absolutely not, it's too risky. Maybe the Enterprise left a loophole in this contraction case. I don't believe the authority didn't receive anything from the Enterprise. They can't get away with it. We just do it our way."

"I understand. So we push the government to reinvestigate this case, so the banks and the Enterprise' partners will leave them. Spock will have to beg for his father's help."

Sarek's method this time was to make Spock lose the Enterprise. The old Vulcan was losing his patience. If he couldn't invite Spock back, he would destroy him. Typical.

Jim wouldn't be able to achieve that alone, but with Christopher Pike and a lot of other dark forces ready to help, Jim knew Spock would soon fall into the trap set up for him.

Straightforward like the Nero gang wasn't the best method, as proved a few days later. The Enterprise organized a big revenge, attacking Nero's main bar and nightclub, but unfortunately, the leaders were not present. Apparently, this was a wise gang, with all their actions carefully planned.

However, Jim never expected his own bad luck to strike so soon, and of course, the main character was still Spock.

Jim knew that even with all kinds of tracking and protection devices, and with bodyguards right nearby, safety cannot be always guaranteed. That being said, Spock usually travels alone, resulting in not only him but also Jim, dragged into a mess. These days, Jim was pretty sure Spock had stopped supervising Jim everywhere he went, but if there was supervision when they got into trouble, they wouldn't have been in that embarrassing situation.

The third night from that fight at Wind Breeze, Jim was leaving work when he ran into Spock in the parking lot. They just glanced at each other, then without a greeting or even a nod, as if they were total strangers, they both coldly got into their cars, coldly started the engine. Jim didn't know why Spock preferred his luxurious room at Dark Moon, Jim himself just wanted to take a good night sleep at the Center Mansion.

They still had to go on the same route for a while, though. Spock's car was at the front, Jim's car close behind. Spock didn't bother to leave Jim far behind, Jim didn't bother to catch up either. And then it happened in a blink of an eye. A blinding light appeared right in front of them, forcing them both to stop immediately.

Jim lowered the window and looked outside to see a bunch of motorbikes surrounding Spock's car, all of the riders looked like typical gangsters. Jim could easily guess they were the Nero gang, apparently they wanted to pick a fight with the Enterprise.

A big Romulan came to stand next to Jim's car, raising his voice.

"You! Better get out of here, this has nothing to do with you!"

"What do you want with my boss?" – Jim calmly asked, then immediately regretted it. He rarely regretted anything, oh well.

The Romulan's eyes widened before he yanked the door opened and pointed his phaser at Jim's head.

"Get off, now! Otherwise I'll shoot!"

Jim knew the Romulan would do it if he put up a fight, so he got off. He was brave, not stupid.

His arms were immediately bent and tied up behind his back before he was pushed towards Spock, who was being insulted by the majority of the gang, and even received 2 punches in the face. Spock didn't like being hit in his face, but there were more than 10 phasers pointing at them. Jim and Spock were both capable fighters, but they weren't superheroes.

Jim could have got away, but he knew if he abandoned Spock this time, his life would be difficult in the future.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi, it's me again. I have decided to write another story, and it's going to be a long one, trust me. But you know, maintaining multiple accounts really is a hardship. So if you are interested and want to follow this story, you can visit it at AO3 with the following link.

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: / / archiveofourown.

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/works/2451164

I choose AO3 because it lets me give you guys a more proper summary as well as more tags for you guys to know what you can look forward to.

This story will be updated weekly there. You don't have to create an account if you don't want to, you can read or leave comment anonymously.

And if you like it, please leave me some comments saying how well I did, what details you like… I would really, really appreciate your opinions!

Thank you for reading.


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